Reptile Zoo News!

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Reptile Village

Hi Everyone!

So it has been a while since we’ve shared some Reptile Zoo News, and now is as good a time as any, because we’ve got lots of great offers and exciting things happening around here right now!

FREE TEA/COFFEE FOR EVERYONE IN JANUARY

Yep that’s right, beat those January blues with a visit to the Reptile Zoo and receive a free cup of tea or coffee with every adult admission! We know its miserable out there and if it’s not frosty it seems the wind is wrecking the place so why not visit us? Don’t forget we are a fully indoor Zoo so no matter what the weather is like, we’re always open AND lets be honest, who doesn’t like something for FREE

Ps, We also have FREE wifi!

SENIOR CITIZENS/OAPS SPECIAL OFFER

Attention all OAP’s/ Senior Citizens we have a great new offer just for you because we know that its not just little kids that love to visit our Zoo but you do too!

Every Wednesday throughout January and February we are offering OAP’s a special discounted admission of just €6 each!

So why not visit us on a Wednesday for just €6 and still receive your FREE tea or coffee, we also have copies of the Kilkenny Reporter newspaper for you to read and take home!

OUR TEAM IS GROWING!

As you may have seen on our blog over the past month or so, we have been on the lookout for someone new to join our ever expanding team!

We had tonnes of applications and this week we whittled them down to about 20 people or so, and our interview process has begun! We will be contacting our chosen candidate on Monday afternoon and as soon as they are settled in, they will do a guest blog post to tell you all how they are getting on!

AMBASSADOR PROGRAMME!

The Reptile Village Team love partnering up with the young people of Ireland for projects and fund raising initiatives and this year will see the launch of our very own Zoo Ambassador Programme!

I can’t give away too much about it as we’re not quite ready to launch it just yet, but what I can say is if you think you can raise money for conservation, become a vital member of our team and would love the chance to go on a herpetology expedition in a tropical jungle somewhere, then keep your eyes peeled, more info coming soon!

COMMUNIONS AND CONFIRMATIONS

This year we are fortunate enough to once again be very busy for the Communion and Confirmation season, BUT that’s exactly why we’re mentioning it here!

We don’t want you to miss out and we are booking up very quickly so if you are thinking of having the Reptile Zoo team visit your home or venue for your child’s big day, please get in touch ASAP as we don’t want to disappoint!

VALENTINES DAY COUPLES OFFER

Okay lads now don’t panic, V-Day is still a few weeks away (February 14th for those of you that may be unsure) but we are offering couples a special TWO FOR ONE ADMISSION OFFER on February 14th, 15th and 16th so why not have a date with a difference?

Valentines Day will mark the second wedding anniversary of our Yellow Foot Tortoise Michelle and Michael and we are happy to report that they are still as madly in love as ever!

That’s all for now folks, but be sure to check out our next blog post in the coming weeks and as always if you have any questions or would like to make a booking please let contact us on info @ reptilevillage.net or by phone on 056 77 26757!

The Reptile Village Team

Images:

www.nywaterway.com

www.chicagonow.com

www.fotosearch.com

www.degrassi.wikia.com

www.fcc-stillwater.org

www.partyworld.ie

www.nationalhrabor.com

New Conservation Officer!

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Reptile Village

Hi guys!

My name is Colin Keane and for the next 9 months I’ll be the conservation officer for the Reptile Zoo. This position is an internship scheme support by jobsbridge and I am very thankful to get it. Here’s as bit of back ground on myself to get started!

I’m originally from Clonmel, Co. Tipperary but moved to Cork in 2008 where I spent four years in University College Cork studying a degree in zoology. While in UCC I studied subjects including evolution and diversity, practical field ecology, biodiversity and conservation as well landscape conservation and management. The course was heavily devoted to studying conservation and hopefully I’ll be able to put all my study to good use in this role.

Since graduating in 2012 I’ve been pursuing a career as a zoo keeper so this position is ideal in terms experience in a career as a zoo keeper and in conservation. I was lucky enough to gain some valuable field experience this year with The Gerry Martin Project (http://gerrymartin.in/) in Indonesia.

You can read all about it here:

http://blogs.ucc.ie/wordpress/bees/2013/11/07/komodo-dragons-snake-cave/

So what will I be doing for the next few months? Well we have a number of projects that we’ll be kicking into gear in the next couple of weeks. The first will be the Reptile Zoo Ambassador Programme. This will involve secondary schools around Ireland and will build links between these schools and The Gerry Martin Project. This will be launched in the coming months so watch this space!

The second project will involve building on the existing links between the zoo and Project Chicchan (http://project-chicchan.co.uk/). This project’s main aim is to support the conservation of biodiversity in Guatemala and our main goal will be to gain more funding and more man power for this project. We’ll also be helping with equipment as the project has a wish list so if you’d like to donate we will send the equipment on for you! So if you’re looking for a bit of adventure and some field experience you need look no further!

There are a number of other projects in the works as well but I’ll keep them under my hat for now. Hopefully I’ll be extremely busy over the coming months but if you have any questions or queries about any of our projects or links you can contact me via email on [email protected]
We’ll be keeping the blog updated with all the latest information so stay tuned!

Over & out!

Colin Keane

Santa is Coming to the Reptile Zoo!

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Reptile Village

Santa is Coming to the Reptile Zoo!

We are very excited to announce that Santa and Mrs.Claus will be in the Reptile Zoo on Saturday December 14th from 12-5pm!

Santa will be here to see all the boys and girls and find out what they want for Christmas, he has promised us that he will bring small gifts for all the children that he will meet here in the Reptile Zoo.

Mrs.Claus will also be on hand to tell some stories, there will be fun face painting, a colouring competition, tea/coffee and refreshments for the bigger kids as well as all the usual animal encounters and trips into our tropical walk through enclosure!

The best part is, there is no extra cost, and that means more value for your money!

For more info contact [email protected] or call 056 77 26 757

Santa will also bring some of his trusty elves to help out on the day!

We’re Hiring!

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Reptile Village

We’re Hiring!

We are looking for a self motivated, enthusiastic, hard working person to join our team! Sound like you? Read on for full details!

We are happy to announce that we have an opening for a full time position within our Reptile Village Team.

The ideal candidate will be a confident individual with a passion for customer service, have the ability to work well within a team, be enthusiastic and self motivated. Experience with animals is a plus but not essential. Candidates must be prepared to work in all aspects of our Zoo with tasks involving everything from general cleaning and maintenance to animal care and paperwork. Presentation skills and a knowledge of promotions, marketing and PR are also a bonus but not essential. The candidate must be eager to learn and develop their skills. Knowledge of basic Microsoft programmes such as word, excel and publisher are also a plus.

We are offering a full time position that will be reviewed after three months with the ideal candidate then heading up our ‘Zoo to You’ team in 2014.

Candidates must be aged 24 or over with a full, clean, driving license, this is essential to this role and applications received that do not fulfill this requirement will not be considered.

Please note that this role will involve a lot of weekend and bank holiday work.

To apply, send your CV and cover letter/email along with two references to [email protected] or by post to:

Reptile Village Conservation Zoo, Demesne Road, Gowran, Co.Kilkenny.

Closing date for applications is December 31st 2013.

NEWS: Halloween Spooktacular and Budget Busting Party!

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Reptile Village

Hi everyone!

It has been a very hectic Summer for the Reptile Village team and we have loved every single minute of it! Although we haven’t been able to blog as much as we’d like too, it was still a huge success!

Not only did we have our Summer exhibit in Funtasia Waterpark (Drogheda) but we were on the road every week with our ‘Zoo to You’ going to Communions, Birthdays, Shopping Centres, Family Fun Days and much more (see: https://reptilevillage.net/web/zoo-to-you/ for more details).

We also passed our inspection and were granted our Zoo License without any conditions again this year (woohoo)!!

Zoo director James has been all over the world on more expeditions than we can count and because of all these trips we have now started a partnership with Project Chicchan in Guatemala, but we will fill you in on that in the coming months.

So you’re probably wondering what we have in store for you over the next few months? Well here it is…..

Our Halloween Spooktacular is set to be the scariest we’ve had yet as the zombie zoo keepers take over, your only guide around the zoo is your glowstick, you never know what creepy creatures you will find lurking in every crevice!

Costumes are essential as there will be prizes for best dressed on the night, along with games, activities, refreshments, alligator feeding and of course there will be an opportunity to get up close and personal with our tarantulas, snakes, lizards toads and more!

Pre-booking is essential as places are limited, you can book your ticket over the phone on 056 77 26757.

In case you haven’t heard; our party in zoo package is back for a limited time only!

Two adults and ten children for just €65!

You even get invitations and a certificate for the birthday boy or girl!

There are lots of optional extras too like hot food, safari hats, guided tours and goodie bags!

For more info on our Halloween event or our Special Offer Parties, please call us on 056 77 26757 or email [email protected]!!

The Reptile Village Team

From Ireland to Africa for CSG

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Reptile Village

So as you all know, Reptile Village is a Conservation Zoo and our goal is to raise awareness of conservation issues and charities, to teach people about reptiles and their role in the wild, and to contribute to conservation projects all over the world. The ways we contribute can vary greatly, we offer financial support where we can, we offer advice, we play an educational role, and through keeping in depth records of the animals in our zoo we can add to the growing bundles of knowledge that already exist in an effort to further understand the behavior of these species, along with lots of other ways.

From time to time, we come up with a very fun and interesting way of raising awareness and some much needed funds for some conservation charities, which brings me nicely to the point of this post. Zoo Director James and his friend Paul have decided that they are going to take their motorbikes the whole way to Africa and back, in an effort to raise funds and awareness for CSG. That’s a total of about 6300 kilometers!!!!

We have been working with CSG (Crocodile Specialist Group) for many years now and donate funds to them every year.

About CSG:

“The IUCN-SSC Crocodile Specialist Group (CSG) is a worldwide network of biologists, wildlife managers, government officials, independent researchers, non-government (NGO) representatives, farmers, traders, tanners, fashion leaders, and private companies actively involved in the conservation of the world’s 23 living species of alligators, caiman and gharials in the wild.”

(www.iucncsg.org)

This year, in an attempt to raise even more money, and most importantly to raise awareness of their hard work, James and Paul are biking from Ireland to Africa!

On Saturday September 7th 2013, James and Paul will leave Kilkenny, Ireland to embark and their 6,300 km round trip to Africa on their motorbikes!

The trip will take them 3 full weeks, with approximately 89 hours of driving time!

There will be lots of photos and a full blog post about the trip once they return (and rest/recover) but until then, keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.

If you would like to sponsor James and Paul, you can do so by clicking the clicking on the ‘donate now’ image below (this will take you directly to the CSG donation form).

Please note that James and Paul are paying for all costs of this trip and all sponsorship money will go directly to CSG.

Project Chicchan Guatemala

Posted on June 15, 2013 by Reptile Village

So as some of you may know, our Zoo Director, James Hennessy, travels abroad as much as he can to take part in research expeditions.

His past adventures have included carrying out King Cobra research in India and studying Anacondas in Venezuela to name but a few (we admit it, we’re jealous too)!

This year he chose to travel to Guatemala for almost 3 weeks of research and trekking through the jungle, here is his first report from Project Chicchan Guatemala!

Ok so this is the first report from the field here in Guatemala on Project Chicchan. A little background info first though. Reptile Village Zoo have teamed up with Project Chicchan to offer support to the herpetofauna survey of Laguna del Tigre National Park in Guatemala, where at the moment, we’re trying to find suitable survey sites to set up a long term survey of the reptiles and amphibians of the area, about which, very little is known. The area is incredibly rich in biodiversity and habitat types.

The biological research station, Las Guacamayas, is our base camp here for the expedition. Life is pretty good here with running water and electricity a lot of the time. A luxury compared to the stations I’m normally used to! From here we conduct both day and night surveys, heading into the jungle catching snakes, lizards, turtles and frogs. All the animals except the snakes are processed in the field. We take details like size, weight and sex of the animal, along with some details like the temperature. where it was basking etc.

We bring the snakes back to the station to process for both convenience and safety reasons. A large percentage of the snakes here are venomous so it’s much safer to process them in a controlled environment.

It’s been a really successful expedition so far and we’ve been catching species such as the Central American Lance Head Viper (Bothrops asper), Helmeted Iguanas (Corytophanes cristatus), Neotropical Wood Turtles (Rhinoclemmys annulata) and Marine toads (Bufo marinus).

We’ve also found a species of Mexican snake-eating snakes (Clelia scytalina) which hasn’t been recorded before in this area, and not to mention the species of coral snake (Micrurus sp.) which we found last night that we still haven’t identified! So it’s turning out to be a very exciting place as regards species!

Most of our main surveying takes place at night, which is when it’s cool enough for most of the species to become most active. Day time temperatures get up to the mid thirties with the humidity reaching 100%. In the mornings we process the animals from the night before, before the day gets too hot. I tend to spend most of the hotter parts of the day in a kayak on the river checking out the local population of Morelet’s Crocodiles (Crocodylus moreletii).

That’s all for now. I’ll hopefully have another update next week if I can piggyback along on one of the locals wifi again! I’ll also have some better pictures when I return. Time to head back into the jungle again now though but first, I’ve to remove an over friendly parasitic tick from my upset thigh…!

James

We know the hardest part of the whole experience for James is having little to no phone service and internet access so he can’t update his Facebook profile!!

Hopefully we will have another report before he returns to Ireland next week!

Great news, we’re hiring!

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Reptile Village

Hey everyone,

Sorry it has been so long since we posted on the blog, we have been super busy these past two months preparing for our busy Summer season and opening our second location in Funtasia, Drogheda!

Our ‘Zoo to You’ team have been on the road every week, bringing our animals to shopping centres, family fun days, Communions, Confirmations, birthdays and more so we haven’t had a minute to stop, make a cuppa and fill you all in!

We’re hiring!

As we have been so busy the last two months and we are continually growing and getting busier we have now decided that we need to add to our team, here is what you need to know:

We are looking for an outgoing, fun, confident person who has an interest in reptiles and is eager to learn and develop their skills. Excellent communication skills are essential. Experience with reptiles is not necessary as you will be fully trained by our zoo director. The role we are offering is casual work for the Summer months both here in Reptile Village Zoo and as part of our ‘Zoo to You’ team, and for this reason applicants must be aged 25 or over with a full, clean driving licence.

Although working in a reptile zoo is a very fun and interesting job it is also lots of hard work. We spend a huge portion of our day cleaning (everything from animal exhibits to the soft play area and windows to bathrooms). There is always lots to do here and being a team player is necessary to get all the work done, whether it is doing an animal encounter session with customers, guiding a school tour around our zoo, cleaning windows, sweeping floors or taking weights and measurements of our reptiles you will never be bored!

So if you think you have what it takes send your CV to:

[email protected]

Closing date for applications is Friday May 17th 2013.